BRS logs 208th life saved

February 8, 2008 by

A pilot experiencing a probable control surface failure deployed a Ballistic Recovery Systems whole aircraft parachute at Laurel, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, becoming the 208th save documented by the use of the parachutes.

The plane, a Slipstream Genesis, a fabric and fiberglass homebuilt, “rolled over on its back and headed straight down,” said pilot and builder Patrick Dean, who deployed the parachute just a few hundred feet above the ground. The plane landed in trees. Dean suffered a cut on his nose and minor bumps and bruises.